Peer support

About this theme

In these case studies, peer support means structured support between staff members which is guided by:

• lived experience, cultural knowledge and workplace practice
• practical care experience and trusted relationships.

Peer support can include:

• buddy support for onboarding and day-to-day guidance
• mentoring from experienced or aspirational staff
• cultural guidance from cultural specialists or cultural officers
• real-time advice during care work
• support to raise cultural concerns early
• support for career development and leadership pathways.

Peer support is not only informal encouragement. It is a practical workforce strategy that helps staff:

• build confidence and navigate cultural protocols
• respond to personal care challenges and understand family and community obligations
• apply training in daily practice and stay connected to the organisation.

In the selected case studies, peer support was used in two different ways:

1. ARRCS embedded peer support within an organisation-wide cultural support system across urban, regional and very remote services.
2. Booroongen Djugun Limited formalised peer support through buddy roles, peer mentors and a Cultural Officer role after staff feedback and organisational review.

Across both examples, peer support worked as part of a wider workforce approach. It helped staff talk through challenges, build confidence and strengthen culturally responsive practice.

Methods

This themed case study is based on two interview-informed case studies about peer support in First Nations aged care settings.

The case studies focused on:

• Australian Regional and Remote Community Service (ARRCS) [1]
• Booroongen Djugun Limited.[2]

See the individual case studies for more detail in the links below.

Why this is important

Peer support is important because cultural safety cannot rely on one-off training alone.

Staff need ongoing support to:

• understand cultural protocols and respond to cultural needs
• navigate complex care environments and ask questions safely
• receive guidance without blame and build confidence over time.

At ARRCS, peer support responded to workforce needs across different cultural and geographic settings. The workforce included:

• local Aboriginal staff and employees recruited from across Australia
• international migrant workers and staff working across urban, regional and very remote services.

Some staff had limited understanding of Australian and First Nations cultures when they joined the organisation. Without peer and cultural support, staff could feel unsure or worried about making mistakes.

ARRCS also identified that some behavioural incidents from clients at First Nations sites were linked to unmet cultural needs. This required culturally informed responses, rather than treating issues only as individual behaviour.

At Booroongen Djugun Limited, peer support responded to the challenge of building, supporting and retaining an Aboriginal workforce.

Staff needed culturally safe support to manage issues such as:

• sensitive personal care alongside family and community relationships
• men’s and women’s business alongside Sorry Business
• cultural obligations, emotional labour and career development.

Staff wanted more honest and realistic conversations about these challenges. Without structured peer support, staff could feel isolated, overwhelmed or unsure how to manage cultural and workplace expectations.

Across both case studies, the issue was not a lack of goodwill. Staff needed practical, trusted and culturally safe support systems to help them respond well in real care situations.

How peer support worked

Peer support worked through structured and informal touchpoints across the workforce.

ARRCS

At ARRCS, peer support was part of a wider cultural support system.

The approach included:

• First Nations-led orientation for new staff and guidance on cultural protocols
• trauma-informed care and learning about kinship systems
• clear information about where staff could seek peer or specialist support.

Peer support continued through daily practice. Experienced staff and cultural specialists provided:

• on-the-ground mentoring, observation and quiet correction
• guidance, feedback and support to raise cultural red flags early.

Teams were encouraged to raise concerns early so that peer support or tailored training could be provided before issues escalated.

Booroongen Djugun Limited

At Booroongen Djugun Limited, peer support became more structured after organisational review and staff feedback.

Two complementary peer support roles were developed:

• buddy support for day-to-day onboarding, practical guidance and shift-based support
• peer mentors to support cultural navigation, confidence building and career development.

Booroongen Djugun Limited recognised Aboriginal staff members’ lived experience as expertise.

Peer mentors helped staff:

• talk through workplace and cultural challenges
• consider education pathways and access external learning opportunities, building leadership confidence.

A cultural officer role strengthened this approach by working alongside:

• buddies, peer mentors and managers
• Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff.

Implementation supports

Implementation relied on practical systems that helped staff feel supported in daily care work.

Orientation and onboarding

Implementation supports included:

• First Nations-led cultural orientation
• practical guidance for new staff, including structured onboarding and buddy shifts
• support for international workers and clear information about workplace expectations.

Mentoring and cultural guidance

Peer support was strengthened through:

• experienced staff providing day-to-day guidance alongside cultural specialists giving real-time advice
• peer mentors supporting workplace connection with managers working alongside
• cultural officers guiding culturally safe practice.

Raising cultural concerns early

Staff were supported to raise concerns before issues escalated.

This included:

• clear pathways for raising cultural concerns and early identification of cultural red flags
• peer support or bespoke training in response to staff needs
• culturally informed reviews based on conversation and practical changes in response to review findings.

Career development

Peer support also supported workforce growth.

This included:

• targeted professional development, education pathways and external learning opportunities
• leadership development, summits and recognition of Aboriginal lived experience as expertise.

Learning across the organisation

Peer support was reinforced through:

• sharing good practice, recognition programs and conversation-based reviews
• tailored training, ongoing mentoring and practical support in everyday care.

Together, these examples show that peer support needs structure. It also needs trust, time and visible cultural leadership.

Practice implications

Peer support can strengthen aged care practice by:

• helping staff translate training into daily care, giving staff someone to ask when situations are complex while supporting staff to raise concerns earlier
• reducing the risk of staff feeling isolated by building confidence across diverse teams in turn strengthening culturally responsive practice.

For organisations, peer support can:

• support workforce confidence, strengthen cultural safety and support staff retention
• connect policy with everyday practice, making workforce support more practical and responsive.

For Aboriginal staff, peer support can:

• recognise lived experience as expertise, provide supported leadership pathways
• strengthen career development and support education and external learning
• create safer spaces to discuss cultural and workplace challenges.

For non-Aboriginal staff and international workers, peer support can:

• build understanding of cultural protocols by supporting trauma-informed care and strengthening culturally responsive practice
• reduce fear of making mistakes and support shared learning across diverse teams.

Peer support should not be treated as an informal extra. These case studies show it can operate as a workforce capability strategy when linked to onboarding, mentoring, cultural leadership and career development.

Key considerations for implementing peer led support

• Build peer support into everyday workforce systems, not only informal relationships.

• Support staff from orientation through to daily practice, mentoring and review.

• Recognise lived experience and cultural knowledge as workforce expertise.

• Create safe ways for staff to raise cultural concerns early.

• Use peer support to strengthen cultural safety and career development.

• Support Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff to learn together in culturally responsive ways.

• Make peer support visible, practical and supported by cultural leadership.

Relevant case studies